TECH WRECKS TAR HEELS
Kyle Sturdivant told his Georgia Tech teammates a visit from No. 3 North Carolina meant it was time to pull out the “big-boy drawers.”
Naithan George responded with the biggest play of the game.
George scored a goahead, left-handed layup with 7.7 seconds remaining and Georgia Tech beat North Carolina 74-73 on Tuesday night to end the Tar Heels’ 10-game winning streak.
“They were able to make one more play than us,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said. “... It was a really good shot by George.”
Georgia Tech (10-11, 3-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) had lost three straight and eight of its last nine to fall close to the bottom of the conference standings. Even so, there have been highlights for the Yellow Jackets, who claimed their third home win over a Top 25 team after beating No. 21 Mississippi State 67-59 on Nov. 28 and No. 7 Duke 72-68 on Dec. 2 to open the ACC schedule.
“I told the guys whenever we play a Top 25 team it feels like we put on our big-boy drawers, so let’s do that,”
Georgia Tech 74, North Carolina 73
No. 3
said Sturdivant, who led the Yellow Jackets with 18 points off the bench.
RJ Davis, who scored a game-high 28 points for North Carolina (17-4, 9-1), won the race to a loose ball following a missed jumper by George and scored on a layup with 34 seconds remaining for a 73-72 lead.
Following a Georgia Tech timeout, George drove for the go-ahead layup.
“If I could get downhill, I could at least get a shot up and let my teammates crash the glass,” George said.
North Carolina called a timeout with 4.6 seconds remaining, but RJ Davis missed a last-second jumper, prompting Georgia Tech fans to celebrate by rushing onto the court.
South Carolina 63, No. 5 Tennessee 59: Ta’Lon Cooper hit a critical 3-pointer with 40 seconds left and scored 18 points, and B.J. Mack added 16 points to lead South Carolina (18-3, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) to victory over host Tennessee.
Dalton Knecht scored 12 points in the final three minutes and finished with 31 points, and Santiago
Vescovi added 10 points for the Volunteers (15-5, 5-2), who had won four straight games and 11 of their last 12 entering the game.
No. 8 Kansas 83, Oklahoma State 54: Hunter Dickinson and K.J. Adams Jr. each scored 16 points to lead a balanced scoring attack and host Kansas (17-4, 5-3 Big 12) defeated Oklahoma State (9-12, 1-7).
No. 9 Marquette 85, Villanova 80: Tyler Kolek hit five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 32 points to lead visiting Marquette over Villanova (11-10, 4-6 Big East) for its fifth straight win.
Kolek rallied the Golden Eagles (16-5, 7-3) after they squandered a 20-point lead. With the Wildcats on fumes after a 34-10 run gave them the lead, Kolek connected on four 3s that sparked the Golden Eagles.
No. 14 Illinois 87, Ohio State 75: Marcus Domask and Terrence Shannon Jr. each had 23 points and Ty Rodgers had 13 as Illinois (16-5, 7-3 Big Ten) beat host Ohio State (13-8, 3-7).
No. 25 TCU 85, No. 15 Texas Tech 78: Trevian Tennyson scored 23 points, Micah Peavy added 18 against his former team and host TCU (16-5, 5-3 Big 12) beat Big 12-leading Texas Tech (16-4, 5-2).
No. 17 Utah State 82, San Jose State 61: Great Osobor scored 31 points to lead host Utah State (19-2, 7-1 Mountain West) over San Jose State (8-13, 1-7).
No. 21 Dayton 83, George Washington 61: DaRon Holmes II had 25 points and 12 rebounds as Dayton (16-3, 6-1 Atlantic 10) bounced back from its first loss in over two months to rout visiting George Washington (14-7, 3-5).
No. 23 Oklahoma 75, Kansas State 53: Jalon Moore scored 23 points, Javian McCollum added 21, and Oklahoma (16-5, 4-4 Big 12) pulled away from Kansas State (14-7, 4-4) down the stretch for a victory that ended the Sooners’ twogame slide.
West
Wyoming 83, Air Force 72: Brendan Wenzel had a career-high 25 points, Mason Walters scored a careerbest 22 and visiting Wyoming (12-9, 5-3 MW) defeated Air Force (8-12, 1-7).
Women
No. 23 West Virginia 84, Central Florida 43: JJ Quinerly scored 16 of her 26 points in the first half and host West Virginia routed UCF for its fifth straight win.